ACEN and Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation have announced that they have fully energized the 72-megawatt (MW) Arayat-Mexico solar farm in Pampanga in time for the demand surge this summer.

The solar farm is expected to be connected to the Luzon Grid next week following a grid compliance testing with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Once fully operational, the solar farm will produce 105 gigawatt-hour

s of renewable energy per year, enough to power 45,000 households and avoid 72,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. 

Construction of the solar farm, a joint venture between ACEN and Citicore, began in June 2021. The project will be expanded up to 116MW. 

“The Arayat-Mexico solar farm is yet another example of how partners leveraging on their  collective expertise, experience and determination can deliver a high-quality project safely and  on time,” ACEN Chief Development Officer Jose Maria Zabeleta said in a statement. 

Citicore earlier said that the project will be among those to be infused into Citicore Energy REIT Corporation (CREIT) once Phase 1 is completed.

“As we prepare to infuse this new asset into CREIT to grow its renewable energy asset po

rtfolio in the coming months, our construction team is ready to break ground the Phase 2 by next month which will increase the total plant capacity to 116MW upon completion hopefully before the end of the year,” Citicore CEO Oliver Tan said. 

“The on-time energization of this project further demonstrated Citicore’s solid track record in greenfield development to Engineering, Procurement, and Construction to Plant Operations and Maintenance, a vertically integrated business model like no other,” Tan added.

Citicore earlier said that it would be allotting Php3 billion in capital expenditures to secure land for its solar projects, particularly for Phase 2 of the Arayat-Mexico solar plant.